ITV holds talks with BT as it eyes Champions League broadcast rights January 12, 2020 ITV is said to be in discussions with rival BT as it looks to secure broadcast rights to Champions League football matches. The public service broadcaster is eyeing up a bid for a package of games held by the telecoms giant after losing out in an auction in November, the Sunday Times reported. Read more: [...]
Mobile providers ‘marking their own homework’ over network coverage January 10, 2020 Millions of mobile users across the UK may not be receiving the coverage they are paying for due to failings by network providers, a new report has warned. The Local Government Association (LGA) today warned of weaknesses in so-called coverage checker websites, which use computer modelling to predict mobile signal strength. Read more: Ofcom to [...]
Hitachi Rail to slash 250 jobs at County Durham factory January 9, 2020 Hitachi Rail has announced that it will cut 250 jobs from its train factory in County Durham. The Newton Aycliffe plant, which opened in 2015, will make almost a quarter of its staff redundant following a 45-day consultation process with employees. Read more: Hitachi closes in on £200m West Coast franchise deal The Japanese conglomerate [...]
Game calls for ‘realistic’ rents as it closes 40 stores across the UK January 9, 2020 Game today urged its landlords to set “realistic” rents as the retailer confirmed it will close 40 stores across the country. The video game chain, which is owned by Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct, had already served notice to 13 sites, including Watford, Canterbury and Leicester. Read more: Sports Direct set for Game Digital takeover after [...]
Sun launches US website in bid to boost online audience January 9, 2020 The Sun has quietly launched a US version of its website as the British tabloid looks to emulate its online success across the pond. The paper, which is part of Rupert Murdoch’s News UK empire, announced in a tweet yesterday that Sun US is now live, though the rollout was accompanied by limited fanfare. Read [...]
Journalists’ union hits back at Harry and Meghan in royal reporting row January 9, 2020 The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) today hit back at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after the Royal couple launched its latest attack on the media over alleged misreporting. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sent shockwaves through the nation yesterday when they announced plans to step back as senior members of the Royal family. [...]
Just one in 10 Brits trusts Huawei amid China spying fears January 9, 2020 While the UK is yet to decide whether or not it will allow Huawei to participate in the country’s 5G network, it seems the public may already have made up its mind. Just one in 10 Brits said they trust the controversial Chinese tech firm, according to a new survey from Yougov, while 22 per [...]
Netflix rival Quibi to launch short video platform in April January 9, 2020 A new streaming service hoping to shake up the crowded on-demand market with its bite-size videos has announced that it will launch in the US in April. Quibi, which has raised an eye-watering $1bn (£766m), has assembled some of the biggest names in Hollywood to produce original shows that are 10 minutes or shorter. Read [...]
Government ‘minded to intervene’ in Daily Mail’s i newspaper takeover January 9, 2020 The government today said it was “minded” to intervene in the Daily Mail owner’s £50m takeover of the i newspaper. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) warned the deal, which was agreed with current i owner JPI Media in November, could raise public interest concerns. Read more: Watchdog gives hold separate order [...]
Carney rate cut comment sends pound crashing to two-week low January 9, 2020 The pound slumped to a near two-week low today after Mark Carney warned that the Bank of England (BoE) could cut interest rates to boost the economy. Sterling dropped as much as 0.55 per cent against the dollar to $1.301 as the central bank governor said a cut was possible if weaknesses in the economy [...]